


Of scales and the song of sirens

by Did_you_see_the_light_in_my_heart



Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Friendship, Gen, Siren, mermaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-03-22 20:24:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3742465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Did_you_see_the_light_in_my_heart/pseuds/Did_you_see_the_light_in_my_heart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>By the shores of the sea, Erik and Raven find the most unexpected of creatures; trapped and far away from the ocean. One of them wants to help it, the other one... not so much. </p>
<p>X-Men AU. Two-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A strange creature by the shore

**Author's Note:**

> Abril: This story was inspired by the beautiful short-film "High Tide" by Kristen Kemper, you HAVE to check it out, it the most wonderful thing I've ever seen. The soundtrack of the film sort of reminded me of the song "Pictures of you" by The last goodnight.
> 
> This story is completely AU and both Erik and Raven are human, they don't have powers nor anything of that sort. And they are their younger selfs if you were interested.
> 
> Thanks to Mondhase (Form fanfiction) for being a wonderful beta, her help is lovely.

-Third person-

The soft breeze that brushed their faces brought the taste of the salty water of the sea, the wind ruffled their hair as they headed down the rocky shore and closer to the coast. It was a beautiful morning, barely 7:30, but Raven Darkholme and Erik Lensherr were up and about, having a pleasant walk accompanied by the song of the seagulls and the crashing waves against the rocks.

"I can't believe I actually got up for this." The blond woman said with a little laugh, the man by her side smiled at her and squeezed her hand softly.

"It's a shame we don't come here more often. Don't you think. Erik?" Raven asked as she held her hat to her head, the playful wind trying to knock it off and into the water. "I mean, we live  _just_ by the beach. How long does it take us to get here, ten minutes?"

"Yeah…" He said, his voice somewhat absentminded, but listening to her every word "Yes, I think we should come down here more often."

The blond woman let go of his hand and hopped from rock to rock in a way that made Erik think she might fall any second, but he shook the thought away, knowing of his friend's agility.

"We have the entire day for us." She said, looking back at him with a little smirk "Do you wanna go to the town later? Maybe we can meet with Alex and Sean… perhaps Hank? Or Logan!"

The tall man gave a low chuckle. Oh, how the woman liked to tease him to no end, knowing perfectly well he didn't like to deal with other people. But perhaps the company of his friends would do him some good, he thought.

"What the hell…" He smiled "I guess we'll be going to town."

The blonde hid her smile and hopped down to the next rock and onto the next at a fast pace and with graceful moves, heading to a hold of water detached from the rest of the sea. Right by the edge she took her hat off as well as her satchel, placing them on the floor.

Erik looked at his friend fondly, as she introduced her hands into the water, looking for rocks and colorful shells like a little girl.

 

-Raven -

The water was so clear I could see every inch of green life attached to the rocks, the seashells and the morning light reflected in the surface. I was so lost in my fascination with the light reflected upon the water that I almost didn't catch the bit of moving color by the corner of my eye. And I couldn't help but gasp.

"Oh my goodness…" Just below the surface was the most incredible thing I had ever seen in my entire life; it was the most impossible thing I could have ever thought about and the most dream-like situation I could have ever imagined.

Just below the surface was a man with the tale of a fish.

Alerted by my words, he bolted from where he had been playing with the rocks and pebbles in the bottom of the water. I was leaning against the wet edge, so captivated by the creature that I didn't have a moment to think as I felt myself fall into the cold water. I rose my upper body from under the water and I looked ahead, my vision cut off by the curtains of my blonde hair. Pushing them away I saw the strange thing trapped against a boulder, his frightened eyes looking directly into mine.

There were no words; there was nothing I could say. His eyes were electric blue, somewhat green in the light; like lightening in the night or clear water. He had a long, long tail that writhed as best as it could against his body, the scales a translucent deep-dark blue with outlines of green.

I finally snapped out of my shock and I stood up; the poor creature shoving himself against the rock at my sudden movement, trying aimlessly to climb to the other side and out into the sea.

"Shh-sh-sh-shh." I shushed him with the calmest voice I could muster at the moment "It's alright… I-I'm not going to hurt you." I said.

The… should I dare say siren? Looked at me with terrified eyes, his breathing erratic and his muscles tense. All over his body were tiny scratches and trails of blood, probably from trying to get out before I had arrived and now… he was scraping his skin again as he tried to climb the boulder, his beautiful scales falling off.

"It's alright, it's alright." I kept saying "Everything's going to be alright… I'm not going to hurt you." I bit my lip as I thought what I could do in this bizarre situation, deciding it was best if I sat in the water so I wouldn't look so threateningly tall. I lowered myself into the water, slowly. And after a few painful seconds his breathing began to calm down though his eyes were still wary.

"Now that's a good boy…" I said with a relieved sigh. I half swam half dragged myself closer to him. He twitched back as I moved closer "No, no!" I said softly "it's all right."

But then entred the situation a factor my mind had completely erased from the equation.  _Erik,_ I thought angrily.

"Raven I saw you fall from afar." The bastard said in a laughing tone "are you alrig… What the bloody hell is that?!" He shouted, his military instincts kicking in as he prepared to attack the strange creature.

"Shut up!" I screamed "Stay back and shut the  _fuck_  up!" I said more quietly but with the same venom I had started with. He didn't lower his guard, but he did as I told.

He hadn't seen the siren from where he stood, the poor thing being under water and Erik so far away. I thought of his days with the soldiers and every bad experience he had ever had in the field, al the blood and death he had seen. It makes it hard for him to be sociable at times and wary of anything strange. But I could not let him ruin this… I couldn't.

The siren tried desperately to climb the rock wall again, a sharp piece stuck in the upper part of his tail where a human's hips would be, blood oozing from the wound.

"Oh my god… please stop." I begged him, as I tried to hold back my tears and swallow the knot in my throat. "Pleeease…" The panicked half-man stopped cold at the sound of my voice, which had embarrassingly broken, but I thanked the Gods that it had. The siren lowered his body until he was sitting at the bottom where the water reached the middle of his chest, and slowly, he turned to look at me.

I puffed out a shaking breath. "Okay, that's alright…" I dragged myself closer and closer until I was at the gap of rocks he was hiding in; so close I could almost touch his bended tail. His chest breathed in heavily as I brought my hand closer to him.

I could feel Erik's eyes piercing my back, ready to launch at the creature if he so much as hissed at me.

I placed my hand carefully over his tale and I felt him flinch, his eyes connected with mine the entire time, never breaking contact. I moved my palm up to his hip in a slow motion, his face got a blue tint as he grew uncomfortable with the way I was touching him. Taking advantage of the moment, I reached for the stone and with a quick movement I yanked out the piece that was buried in his tail.

" _Hissssh!"_ Out of his mouth came a sound I had never heard before; like an angry cat and the hiss of a snake but in another tonality. His movements were so fast I had no time to think and I lost my breath as he yanked painfully at my hand. The creature had been so scared the whole time I had forgotten this thing could be seriously dangerous, it was a wild animal and I had neither control nor power over it. And now it had me gripped with strong hands by my upper arms.

 

-Erik -

I didn't dare to move as I saw Raven touching the horrid thing, afraid that one movement might be the end of her. And I saw the second the thing had had enough playing with its food and grabbed her arms with force and pulled her towards him.

The second it touched her I jumped into the water, ready to kill the animal and get it as far away from Raven as I could or die trying.

"E-Erik s-stop!" She shouted, the fear painfully obvious in her voice as she stumbled over her words "S-stop." She said more quietly.

My fists were clenched tightly as I stood very, very still. Jumping at the creature while it had Raven in its gasp would not be the smartest move. So I waited.

-Raven -

"I-I-I… I'm s-sorry." I said, trembling with fear. "I wa-was just trying to… to help." My chest hurt with anticipation as his claws sank slowly into my flesh, his eyes burning into mine with rage and ire.

I gasped from the pain and I hear Erik trying to get closer again. "Wait!" I said again, leveling me breathing heavily. I took a gulp of air and looked into his eyes with my fearful ones. "If you c-can understand me… I'm s-sorry." I said with as much honesty as I could.

 

-Third person-

The creature looked at her eyes with burning rage as she spoke. He was in all his right, a wild animal, by nature he lashed out upon pain. That is until he heard the pleading tone Raven had spoken in; he didn't understand what she said, not completely at least, but he stopped a moment in his rampage and as he looked without the curtain of pain clouding his eyes, he could finally see into hers more closely.

The girl was scared, as scared as he had been a moment ago, and now he was the one making her scared. He gazed to his hands that held her tightly with a strong grip that promised some nasty bruising later and the creature saw the extent of his actions. His sharp fingernails where digging into her skin, drawing blood from the incisions he was making. For a moment the creature felt as if he was about to slay a fish he had just caught to eat and he felt ashamed of his actions. Very, very slowly he loosed his grip until his hands where just resting over her upper arms.

"Thank you…" Raven sighed as the siren let go of her.

 

-Raven-

The siren didn't take his hands of my skin, but he was no longer hurting me, which made me sigh in relief. The creature no longer looked me in the eye, that's when I realized… he was ashamed of hurting me. But what could I say to a creature that probably didn't understand a thing of what I said. I looked at Erik -making sure he was not going to make any stupid moves- and as we locked eyes and glared at each other, he knew perfectly well what I wanted to say and he was  _not_ happy.

I turned back to the creature in front of me as I felt his hands leaving me, he looked at his palms with wonder, and they were red with my blood.

"Hey." I called him softly to get his attention "It's okay… I owed you one any way." I smiled, trying to get the message trough and after a few hesitant moments, he smiled shyly back at me.

"Raven I want you to get away from that thing." Came the commanding voice of Erik. I looked at him challengingly, my frown deep " _ **Now."**_  He said again like a parent scolding his child. I ignored him and looked again at the poor thing (that yeah, had been about to bite a chunk of my skin off, but who pays attention to the details anyway?) and gave him another smile.

He looked sadly at my arms again as he brought up a finger to cares my left arm.

"It's okay, really. Let it go." I said, not really hoping he understood me. "Oh, wow!" I exclaimed as he took my arm and pulled it to his chest "What are you doing?" His hold was not hard, but rather gentle and careful to not hurt me again. And then the weirdest thing happened (not that finding a  _real, leaving_ _ **siren**_  was anything normal… but it was pretty weird by the account of things that had happened today).

"What the hell is it doing?" Exclaimed Erik as the siren lowered his head and started licking my wound. If I hadn't seen the remorse in his eyes I would've probably thought that he was tasting how good I would be for a meal.

It felt weird. Not pleasant like when someone licks you during sex (you can excuse almost anything weird during sex) and not funny like when a dog licks you out of happiness, it was  _weird._ His tongue was scaly and raspy, like when a cat licks you and you move it out of the way because it doesn't really feel good. But I didn't stop him, after all what did I know of siren-y costumes? Maybe he was saying sorry the only way he could? So he kept on liking my wound with care until the incisions no longer bleed, he then took my other arm as gently as the first and continued the process.

When he was satisfied with both of my arms a pleased croak came from his throat. I looked at the wounds and saw the telltale soft purple of his hold, his fingers where beginning to show. I ignored the fact and looked him straight in the eye and nodded approvingly.

"Thank you." I said politely, which earned me another toothy, and still shy, grin. My mind was suddenly filed with ideas of communication, making my heart almost skip a beat with excitement.

"My name is Raven." I said with a smile, the creature looking at me with confused amusement. " _Rae-_ ven." I repeated, patting my chest as a sign of what I meant. But the siren did not understand.

"Come here!" I commanded a stunned Erik with excitement, who was still frozen by the scene. "Come  _ **on,**_ don't be a wuss!" I said, because he did not move. At the moment I had neither the patience nor the time to waste with whatever racist thoughts he had crossing his mind.

He looked at the hybrid with hesitance.

"For the love of God Erik, come here  **right now**!" I shouted angrily, but my friend had finally moved. As soon as he was at arm's distance from me I pulled him down into the water with me, soaking him to the waist as he kneeled beside me.

I stopped a second, recalling I didn't know how the siren was going to react to Erik getting closer and I turned to look at him. His brows frowned and his teeth where starting to show with anticipation. Erik was tense beneath my hand and the creature hissed softly at the unknown presence.

"No, no, no, no, no." I said quirkily with a soothing gesture of my free hand. "it's okay…" I said softly, hoping the message would get through to him and he could control himself from scratching Erik's eyes out (as he much looked like he wanted to do). "It's okay." I repeated with a smile.

Slowly but surely the hissing faded and the siren settled himself. Erik too relaxed his muscles somewhat but they were both on guard.

With the tip of my finger, still not sure how much liberty I had with the creature, I taped his slender hand to take his attention from the German. He looked down at what I assume was a strange gesture for him and then up at me with a questioning gaze.

I placed my hand over my chest again " _Rae_ -ven." I said slowly and then I placed my hand over Erik's chest " _Er-_ ik…  _Er_ -ik."

 


	2. Home is where I want to be

-Erik-

The creature didn't react to Raven's teaching and as I looked at her, I saw the moment her shoulders fell a little in defeat. I searched my mind for words of comfort as my gaze drifted to the strange animal before us.

Up close I could see each dark blue scale and how every one of them was lined by a thin line of green; they shone brightly like the fish my father had helped me catch when I had been but a skinny boy. I can still remember my fascination as the sun had reflected upon the silver blue skin of the fish… and also how my heart had constricted as my father had killed the poor animal, how it had struggled and drowned on air.

I looked at his face and he did not seem as deadly as before. His features were soft and as I became aware of the hidden kindness in his eyes I thought that perhaps I had reacted foolishly before; in some ways he looked sort of innocent. I did not trust the animal not to harm my best friend again, but I was sure that I could trust myself to see trough the unknown creature's exterior and find its humanity just beneath the surface. 'Everyone deserves a chance,' as my mother used to say.

"I'm sorry, Raven, I don't think he can understand you." I said as I took her hand from my arm and into mine, giving it a light squeeze.

"Yeah…" She said sadly. "I was just hoping… he would understand at least that, you know?" She asked without taking her eyes from the creature, her efforts to teach him our names in vain.

The merman looked somewhat concerned at the sudden change in the air. Where before there had been a childish-like wish to learn between them, there now lay a silent atmosphere.

I looked with wonder at the creature as a variation of croaks and squeaks escaped his throat with almost no movement from his mouth. This creature communicated with his throat, not with his mouth and perhaps that was the problem in the way we were trying to communicate; it was never going to work.

A moment later Raven caught up with the creature's distress and smiled lightly.

"Don't worry." She said even though she knew for sure that the creature did not understand.

We stood from the water; Raven dripping from head to feet, making me grateful for not having fallen down deeper. We walked out of the cave like corner the creature had been hiding in and felt the sun touching our faces. I let out a sigh of relief and I noted the center of this holding of water was deeper than the place where we had been before.

"Be careful with where you step." I warned Raven, making her follow my gaze to a drop beneath the water where it was almost as deep as two meters or three.

The merman dragged himself closer to us, making me smile slightly as he looked closely at our legs. Perhaps he was wondering how in hell we were able to stand.

Raven looked over the rocks and onto the sea.

"He must've gotten stuck when the high tide came down…." She said thoughtfully.

The creature searched with his gaze whatever Raven was looking at and as soon as he realized it was the big blue, his eyes fell. A pitiful croak left his throat and he resigned, he sunk into the drop of water and stayed at the bottom. The siren looked as miserable as he had sounded, his tail curling into himself and his arms surrounding his stomach.

"We have to get him back…" I snapped out of my thoughts as Raven spoke.

"Well, of course." I said almost sarcastically. "And how do you suppose we do that? Do you happen to have a plan up your sleeve?"

"Well, I'm just saying!" I could see she wanted to hit me hard, but retained herself, fisting her hands at her hips. "It's not like we can just carry him and throw him over the rocks."

There was a moment of silence and with simultaneous movements we looked at each other, the glimpse of an epiphany at the tips of our tongues.

"No, that is exactly what we are going to do." I concluded with a smile upon my face, Raven mirroring my reaction with a slight wickedness that surfaced every time she grinned.

 

-Raven-

Erik returned from the rocky shores after scouting that there was no one else around. It would be a terrible fate for the siren to be returned to the sea so he could then be captured and propped by superstitious sailors, who then would undoubtedly be discovered by the government who would take the siren from them and give it to scientists so they could experiment on him like a lab rat and dissect his corps for kids to watch trough a glass case in a museum…

And as exaggerated as it sounded it was a big possibility; we could take no risks.

"Okay, ready?" Erik asked, sleeves rolled up to the elbow and blue jeans up to the knees.

"Yup." I said after letting go of a deep breath.

I got into the water again and sat where the drop of water started and looked at the immobile siren. His face was sad as well as his posture where he curled at the side of one of the walls.

"Amm…" I said unsure of how to get his attention. "Merman?" I waved my hands inside the water, hoping he would look up or I would have to swim to him. "Hey, siren!"

He looked up at me, arms wrapped around his middle.

"Come." I said with an easy smile as I gestured him to me.

He obliged with no traces of distrust and I thought how easy it would be for anyone to catch him with how fast he seemed to trust new people. It made me fear for his future and what could happen to him.

His head came out of the water; hair plasted against his face and in the corner of his lips rested a little smile. The same croaks from before left his throat and my smile broadened as I started to think them lovely. I touched his arm with my fingers and then with the same hand pointed to the sea. His eyes fell in sadness and my heart constricted.

"We can get you there." I tried to sound reassuring.

I pointed at myself and Erik then at him and lastly to the sea.

"Erik and I can get you back into the water." He looked confusedly at me and I realized there was a fault in our plan. If he didn't let us carry him this would be a lost case, we would have to wait for the high tide and even then it would be hard to get him to the other side of the rocks. How the hell had he ended up here anyway? Perhaps it had been a wave…

I shocked my head a little, concentrating again on the matter at hand. Standing up, the siren followed me, chest almost scratching the bottom of the floor and head partly up.

"We can get you into the sea." I tried again, pointing to the other side, at me and Erik, the at him and once more to the ocean "The sea!"

I saw the slightest flicker of recognition in his eyes. His piercing blue ones looking at me and then at the sea; a happy sound escaping his lips.

"I… I think he maybe understanding, Erik!" I looked up at him with a big smile on my face, his lips smiling back at me.

He walked into the water and once we were by the creatures sides we crouched down. Tentatively, Erik stretched his hand as if to place it on his back. He did it very slowly so the siren would be able to watch his every move. The merman seemed to understand and with terrible caution he leaned close to the touch.

"Your turn, Raven." He said, getting ready to stand up.

I looked at those big eyes of this strange creature, he looked frightened, but like he wished very hard to trust us completely.

"Don't worry." I assured him with a smile as I placed one arm on his back and the other under his tail. The touch to his long extremity made him jump a little, but he settled down easily afterwards. Erik finished putting his other arm under his tail and looked at me.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Ready."

"Okay now… one, two…"

"Three!" We said at the same time as we lifted him up.

"My God! He IS heavy." Exclaimed Erik, exhaling a big puff of breath.

"You tell me." I muttered under the weight. It was a long walk by the rocks and up to the shore until we could safely place him back in the water but there was no backing down now.

The siren clenched at our shoulders with his arms behind our necks; his tale curling nervously as he looked at the height he was in.

"Poor thing!" I laughed at his expense "He must be so frightened to be carried like this.

"Nothing we can do now." Said Erik. I looked at him, confirming that he was indeed carrying more weight than I was, but didn't complain about the fact. "Come on, let's get started or we won't even reach half the way by the time we need to take a break."

Very slowly, so we would not drop the weight in our arms, we walked out of the holding of water and started our long track back to the big blue.

 

-Siren-

(It's from his point of view but he's not really narrating.)

The moment the siren regretted his decision of letting these strange creatures carry him was almost instantaneous. He felt his heart drop to the water when they lifted him high into the air. He clenched his hands over their curious second skin -which seemed to be capable of morphing and shaping as his fingers tangled on it- and held on for dear life, his tail curling with nervousness and anticipation. A soft sound escaped from the female creature and the siren though perhaps it was a laugh; he wanted to smile at the thought, but he was too worried with the height to give even an ounce of his concentration to something as trivial as smiling.

He shut his eyes tightly as they started to move. Yes, this was indeed the worst decision he had ever made in his life, almost as terrible as the time he had swam closer to the wood structures -the ones that held the creatures above water- to hear them better. He did that somewhat often, and it was stupid indeed, but he always made sure to be careful up on the surface. At the moment, this felt like an even stupider decision.

The sounds the creatures made had always made him wonder, they were so different from the seagulls or any fish or fellow siren he had ever heard. It was kind of beautiful, he thought, like the wind against the water or the waves crashing against the rock beautiful. Still, no matter how much he tried, he could never understand it. He was close now; spying on the creatures that sailed above water had given him a slight understanding of their language, he liked to learn and he had paid close attention to the two-legged animals. There were things he was sure he knew what they meant and others that he was almost sure he knew, but of course could never be sure, there was never anyone to tell him if he was even slightly right or wholly wrong after all.

He was shaken out of his wayward thoughts as there was a brusque movement from the ones that held him. He griped the creatures tighter and squashed his eyes as strongly as he could. The fleeting thought that he was close to death ran though his mind, but it only made him tighten his tail harder.

"Sorry, my friend." Said the one of the deeper voice in their strange dialect.

"He's going to have a heart attack for sure, Erik." Answered the other in frustration.

"Well  _sorry_ , Raven. I'm wet everywhere and he's not exactly light." Snapped the male.

The wobbling movement continued after that pause. The siren wished to see what was going on, but he was not yet brave enough to do so. In all his years of life there was not one feeling he would use to describe this movements, they where rough and felt like constant, abrupt stops and goings.

There was a long silence and the siren finally got somewhat used to the feeling, he was by no means calm, but he could handle it now. Perhaps he could open his eyes now?

Slowly, very slowly, he spied under his lids until they were once more completely opened. They had gotten farther from the water where they had been before, but there was no doubt they were heading to the beach now. His heart gave a jump in his chest at the thought of home, the thought of water and the thought of deep, deep down.

"Now, look who decided to open his eyes?" Said the female with a light tone, though she sounded tired; the siren thought she should be, after all things were heavier above the water surface.

Their voices flowed around him and though he could understand but words he felt happy as the sound surrounded him; it felt somehow like when he was underneath the ocean and the water did the same; embracing, loving. After a moment of silence, the creature with the long yellow hair spoke.

"Can we take that break now? I think I'm going to drop him." She sounded worried and after some steps and more sounds, they stopped.

He was panicked at first, they were not yet by the sea, but they had stopped. Were they going to leave him here? He hoped not! He would surely die. But he calmed down after a moment, they looked tired and perhaps carrying him was harder than he had thought. Although still nervous of the thought, he settled down and basked in the beautiful feeling of solid ground. Never had he thought he'd be so grateful for dry land.

As the creatures chatted amongst themselves, sometimes giving him a word or two, he drifted again into his thoughts. He thought of the beautiful female and how she always smiled at him, he thought of how she had repeated a series of words to him back where they had been, but he had not understood what she had wanted of him or what she had said. Now, he was trying hard to make a connection to all the things he had seen and heard above water, perhaps if he thought hard enough he could understand at least a little.

She had said "Rae-ven." And "Raven" it sounded similar but not quite the same. It was so strange, this tongue of the dry land creatures, he thought with frustration. Then she had pointed at the other and had said "E-rik." And "Erik." Also similar but definitely different. So strange it was how they pointed at everything; they pointed at themselves, at each other and even at the sea and him… Wait… perhaps that was it.

Now why on earth hadn't he thought of that? He asked himself. A little smile spread over his face as he looked at these creatures. They were so kind to him… perhaps he wished they could be friends.

 

-Erik-

It was still pretty early and the sun was not so high in the sky, but I felt as if it were already afternoon with all the things that had transpired. I looked around once more, not trusting that someone wouldn't show up, and what a disaster that would be; news everywhere if whomever saw us took one single picture, experiments later, that was for sure.

Raven was leaning on her arms and basking in the sweet salty wind, the siren had been a little distracted, but was now looking at us with a small smile. I wondered what he was thinking right now?

I took notice of his skin; it was beginning to crack a little like overly dry ground, his breaths a little heavy and hard to take. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes from the hold of water to here and another ten we took of rest, but the elements were already affecting him, his marine nature showing. I wondered how long this creature could be on land and how much would it take for him to die of suffocation or something similar. I shocked the thoughts out of my head, for those were precisely the questions someone who wished to experiment on him would have.

I cracked my knuckles idly and the merman looked funnily at my hands. At his interested eyes I cracked them again and chuckled when he took them in his hands, investigating them as if they were a shiny new thing. I cracked the knuckle of my thumb and he jumped a little at the sound, looking up at me with a silly smile.

"Aww, look at those dimples, Erik!" Said Raven, fascinated with his reaction, as the siren was fascinated with the sound my hands made. There was no possible way she didn't thinking he was cu… "He's so cute." She laughed lightly.

Of course. I smiled at her.

She placed her hand in front of him and cracked a knuckle of her own, the position of her fingers almost unnatural. The siren's smile only broadened and a sudden series of high notes left his throat. For a moment Raven and I looked at each other, perplex at the foreign noise, almost resembling the song of a whale.

"Was that… a laugh?" She asked with a growing grin "Oh god! That was definitely a laugh!" She threw he head back and laughed herself, I was not far behind, with the feeling just at the edge of my throat, my heart softening at the scene.

 

-Raven-

I looked at the siren and out of him came again this beautiful sound, it was definitely a laugh, but it was somehow like a song mixed with his soft croaks; it was melodiously high. I don't think I've ever heard the like. His smile was wide and in his cheeks a pair of dimples rose high. It was a beautiful sight and it filled my heart.

After a few more minutes we decided we had rested enough and with a heavy sigh, we stood up with the merman in our arms. He didn't seem so nervous now, though his multicolored tail still twisted uncomfortably.

"Don't worry. It's not much farther." I tried to look at him reassuringly, his lips lifting slightly up while his eyes were still insecure.

I looked at my hand holding his tail and my clothes, dark blue and lighter tones of scales were clinging to them and shined with the sun. Once more I gazed to the many wounds in his body and though they would heal in time and there was nothing I could do about them, the sight still made my chest hurt. But all in all he did not seem to be in pain, perhaps he had forgotten with so many other things to concentrate on.

The rest of the way was silent until we finally got to the rocky shore.

"Up to the water?" I asked Erik, a nod my only answer.

We walked into the sea, the siren still in our hold, until the water reached our waists. And gently, we placed him into the waters. The siren had begun to take a beaten up look during the trip we had made from one side to the other, but not a second after letting him go, he was already looking better. The cracks in his skin disappearing and his lips becoming rosy and plump again.

He was happy, it was obvious. He swam back and forth around us with a swift shake of his tail. Finally, after some well deserved enjoyment of his surroundings, he stopped in front of us; his back straight, the position uncomfortable for it was not deep enough for his tale to have room to move. He smiled at us, content I think.

The smile in my face fell. It was probable that we were never going to see him again. This would be the first and last time we would ever gaze upon his electric blue eyes or his kind face. It made me sad to think about it.

"I guess, this is it." Said Erik, his voice dropping a little. I was sure his thoughts were in the same track as mine. I took his hand lazily into my own and looked at him.

"Go home now, merman." I said with a little smile as I turned to him "I think it's been enough commotion for a day, don't you think?"

 

-Siren-

That word he knew, it had been engraved in his mind since he had understood its meaning from the creatures that sailed on wood.

 _Home_.

It was important and he treasured that knowledge. It meant –he thought– where you want to be. The heart's desire. Where the ones you love are. He understood and it made him happy and sad at the same time. He thought again of deep down into the water and of blue scales like his own –and green and lilac and violet and yellow and so many others.

He thought of scales and the song of sirens and he smiled and wondered what the others thought about when they though of home.

He reached with his fingers and places his palm over the chest of the female in a sign of friendship and love; a sign the merepeople used that meant  _understanding_. Without taking it away, he did the same with the male. He smiled brightly and thought perhaps they  _did_  understand. Oddly enough, the creature with the long golden mane placed her hand over his, he didn't completely understand, but he smiled still.

Testing his tong a bit in his mouth, he tried slowly.

"Hromke." He said and he almost got it, but his throat couldn't quite help but croak when he spoke.

The creatures stared at him in disbelief, could it have been what they thought it was?

"Home." He said quietly and this time he's sure it's right "Home." He says strong and bright.

"Yes." She said a bit breathless, in the corner of her eye there seemed to be water accumulating. "Yes, home." She repeated excitedly. "You're going home."

"Incredible." The male exhaled with amazement.

Slowly he let his hands down and looked at them. Before leaving, he decided, he wanted to try two more things. He was ready, he thought, and perhaps these are two other words he would treasure as home.

"Rae-ven." He said as she taught him. Her mouth opened a little as if she couldn't quite believe what she was listening. He pointed his finger at her, as they tended to do and laugh when she held his hand. No… when Rae-ven held his hand.

"E-rik." This one was easer, but he sighed in releaf because he almost turned the word into a crack. The siren was pleased nonetheless and he pointed at the other. The eyes of the male were content. E-rik.

"And you?" Said Rae-ven with a smile as she pointed at him.

It must have been his turn, he thought, to share his name, but amongst his people it was not something that was give lightly. But perhaps he could make an exception; for these two who had saved his life, for these land creatures that walk with two and were kind to different things.

"Sharcless." He croaks and repeats a few times for them.

"I don't think I can repeat that!" Laughed Rae-ven, still holding his hand.

"It sounds a bit like Charles, if you think about it." Replied E-rik with a smirk.

They tried time and time again with little success until they got a little red from laughing. The siren wondered a bit at their change of color, but he had no way to ask them about it. Such strange things they were.

In the back of his mind he thought now he would try learn the language with more dedication, he decided, even if he had to stay a whole season by the ones that sailed above. So if he ever saw them again, he would be ready and then... perhaps they would talk.

It was time to go now; his mates would be wondering where he had gone to, this time, they would be very worried indeed. Would probably come looking for him if he took much longer to return.

"Home." He said with finality as he looked into their eyes.

"Yes…" Rae-ven patted his hand and let it go, "home."

He touched their chests one more time and with a sad smile he swam away from them. The hour was late and home was where he wanted to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Abril: Pfff, this chapter was a bitch. 4247, that's a good amount of words haha. To be honest, it's been almost ready for MONTHS, but I wasn't too encored in putting effort into finishing it. I really don't think many people enjoyed this, but anywho! It you were waiting for it, this is your lucky day!
> 
> There was an idea I had for a different ending were another siren appeared and attacked Raven and Erik because she thought they were hurting Charles. It was suppose to be Emma Frost because I thought "We'll they're both telepaths, yeah? So she could be a perfect siren!" It was going to be a sweet thing between the two and Charles was going to stop her from doing anything too stupid (a bit animalistic hisshing and claws) and stuff like that. But in the end I thought it was going to spoil a bit the whole moment at the end and the intended friendship I had going on with the siren and the 'land creatures' so…
> 
> This is the end. Please, do tell me what you thought :) also any questions you think I could answer. If there are too many (yeah, right) I'll post a chapter just for the answers. Nighty!
> 
> Oh! PS, thanks again to Mondhase for bearing with my writing haha.

**Author's Note:**

> Abril: Mondhase pointed me out Erik's attitude seams a bit confusing; for anyone who was wondering, because in this story they are humans I wanted him to have the same dislike he has for what is not like him. Mutant Erik hates humans, so therefore human Erik hates things that are different.
> 
> Any questions?


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